Monday, November 30, 2009

WASHINGTON -- Chelsea Clinton is engaged to marry her... boyfriend of two years. Clinton, 29, the only daughter of U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and former President Bill Clinton, became engaged over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend to investment banker Marc Mezvinsky, 31.

Mezvinsky, who works for Goldman Sachs, is the son of former U.S. Reps. Ed Mezvinsky (D-Iowa) and Marjorie Margolies-Mezvinksy (D-Pa.). The elder Mezvinsky recently served a prison term for swindling $10 million from investors in a series of Nigerian e-mail scams. He was released in 2008.

...The couple announced their engagement last Friday in a mass e-mail to friends, a Clinton spokesman said, according to media reports.

The authenticity of the mass e-mail, which also requested help in releasing "funds currently trapped in Nigeria," could not be confirmed at press time.

Bill Ayers, the politely described "unrepentant sixties radical" is back... and in a very questionable way. The indignant political ideologue has surfaced in a fashion that should insult and deeply trouble every decent American no matter their political persuasion.

He is a con-man... a bait-and-switch artist who promises you a seemingly great product only to have you discover after the purchase you end up with something far more expensive that doesn’t work. He raised hundreds of millions of dollars of foundation and grant money in Chicago with the promise of newly enlightened and efficient educational reform, but what the city got was arguably one of the most defective and violent school systems in America.

Now, he’s at it again.

For a decade in the 1970’s Ayers flew under the FBI’s radar, many say with help from his father. In 2009 one might wonder if it’s Big Brother who is now giving him cover. His increased visibility with important Obama cabinet members certainly opens the possibility that someone in power has extended him carte blanche. I’m surprised he didn't get into last week’s White House State dinner.

An Incorrect Wiretap

It's important to understand Ayers would be serving consecutive life terms in a maximum security prison had Nixon’s Justice Department simply used the correct wiretap. Ayers is a veritable snapshot of what can happen in New York City if terror suspects get the kind of venue where technicalities in the hands of a skilled attorney can be manipulated to trump either overwhelming truth or basic justice.

To adequately understand Ayers' deep disdain for Democracy consider what he and his wife Bernardine Dohrn said about America 35 years ago and what they’ve said lately. In 1970 Ayers and Dohrn defiantly signed a vitriolic declaration of war against America, citing, "We are building a revolutionary communist party to lead the working class. Our final goal is the destruction of capitalism, the seizure of power, and the creation of socialism... the violent overthrow and eradication of the social system based on profit."

In November two years ago at a Weather Underground reunion Bill Ayers asked his aging radical colleagues, "What is that spirit we want to connect with, the spirit of rebellion, resistance, of insurgency?! Then he plainly stated, "There’s a lot to look forward to... our empire (the USA) is in decline." This ungrateful, hollow man still sees America’s demise as a wonderful development.

On his heels, his unapologetic wife Bernardine added, "I think it’s true that America is the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today... we live in the belly of the beast... right here in the heart of the monster (the USA).”

Our brave defenders buried at Arlington Cemetery must be turning over in their graves. Arlington brings me a step closer to my point.

An Educational Conference in Washington

In early October of this year Ayers was spotted leaving busy Reagan National Airport on his way to the nearby Arlington Key Bridge Marriot Hotel which overlooks the capitol and historic Georgetown. He was to give a lecture to the Renaissance Group, a consortium of American colleges who focus on Teacher Education programs.

A close look at the membership list on the RG website shows that aside from being excellent colleges and universities there is one common denominator—most of the schools have an added emphasis on Instructor Reform—Ayer’s area of expertise. The Renaissance Group’s underlying message is a “rebirth of our nation’s schools... through the preparation of qualified educators.” So far, so good.

Only a fool would disapprove of teacher training, teacher improvement, and teacher excellence. The question is, when Bill Ayers is in the school kitchen and his socialist finger is in the soup, “What kind of teacher training is being cooked up?”

It's important to review Ayers' recipe for America’s schools—to see what Education Reform means to him. Sol Stern, writing in the City Journal in April 2008, explains: “The... pressing issue is not the damage done by the Weather Underground 40 years ago, but the far greater harm inflicted on the nation’s school children by the political and educational movement in which Ayers plays a leading role today." Stern pinpoints, "One of Ayers' major themes is that the American public school system is nothing but a reflection of capitalist hegemony (domination). Thus the mission of all progressive teachers is to take back the classrooms and turn them into laboratories of revolutionary change.”

Ayers may be closer to those goals than people realize

On Monday November 23 President Obama took the occasion of National Lab Day to announce a new “Educate to Innovate” initiative designed to motivate and revitalize science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) programs in the nation’s schools. One of the priorities would be expanding STEM education and career opportunities, with a special focus on under-represented groups, including women and minorities. He called for a series of public-private partnerships involving universities, corporations, non-profits, and foundations. If I can agree with President Obama on anything it is definitely improved education.

Back in mid-October, about a week after Ayer’s lecture in Arlington, US Education Secretary Arne Duncan visited Louisiana and publicly committed to rebuilding and reforming the Katrina-devastated New Orleans school system. His proposal was a like-sounding prelude to Obama’s Lab Day announcement.

But wait... what was that about women, minorities, and school reform? In light of the fact there are far more men than women aged 18-24 in the US (the Census Bureau’s 2007 estimate) but on national college campuses women outnumber men 57% to 43%, and the recruitment by Obama of astronaut Dr. Sally Ride—America’s first woman in space, to help with his new initiative, the idea women aren’t getting a fair shake is an outright farce. And considering two of the six astronauts aboard this November’s Atlantis Space shuttle mission were black Americans—Leland Melvin of Virginia and Dr. Robert Satcher, Jr., it seems this administration’s distorted overall view of oppressed minorities and stifled opportunity is not only narrow, but its prejudicial precept indicates it is not inclusive.

Most school issues get my rapid endorsement but I’m hesitant to sign on to this one. A school-corporate-nonprofit nexus…principal and faculty reform... small, low-income community organized projects... under-represented victims... where have we seen this before?

How about Chicago, where Obama chaired the board of the Joyce Foundation which collected tens of millions of dollars of private, corporate sponsored non-profit monies and distributed them to Chicago area school initiatives. Much of the money went to Ayers' small-school reforms and minority-centered programs. Then Obama and Ayers sat together on the Woods Fund and did the same thing. Then they sat together on the Chicago Annenberg Challenge and did the same thing. Then Obama sat together with Bill Ayers' father and brother on The Leadership Council and did the same thing. Overall, they appear to have spent over a hundred million dollars into Chicago school projects only to see today's pitiful results.

I was initially excited over Obama’s new direction in education until I realized it might be a replay of the Chicago disasters.

Ayers, Obama's de facto 'Education Czar'

Last month at the Renaissance Group’s Arlington conference there were only three speakers:

• Unfathomably, sandwiched in between the two pillars of our so-called national educational brain-trust, and getting to speak for one entire hour, was none other than our radical reformist and school-system-destroying demolitions expert, Bill Ayers.

For your review, the Obama administration's economic track record in 90 seconds can be described as follows (I can also summarize it in one second, if necessary: "teh FAIL")...

FAIL: The "HAMP" mortgage modification program, designed to save homeowners from foreclosure? Out of 651,000 "trial" modifications, zero (that's none) have turned into a permanent repayment plan.

FAIL: The "Cash-for-Clunkers" program cost taxpayers between $20,000 and $45,000 per vehicle purchased.

FAIL: The "Stimulus" program, which cost $787 billion and was rammed through Congress using the premise that, without it, unemployment would not pass 8%, has resulted in 10.2% unemployment and 17% "under-employment" (U-6). The tab will be paid for by your children and grandchildren.

FAIL: The $60 billion bailout of GM and Chrysler -- abrogating bankruptcy law with payoffs to various union bosses -- is an utter and complete failure. The businesses are unsustainable without a massive restructuring, including dramatically retooling union contracts.

FAIL: The bailout of AIG, orchestrated by the then-head of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York (FRBNY) Timothy F. Geithner, "wasted billions" of taxpayer money according to the inspector generator of the TARP program. The initial $85 billion rescue failed, forcing the Fed to pay above-market for the swaps it acquired. The result? "There is no question that the effect of the FRBNY's decision - indeed, the very design of the federal assistance to AIG - was that tens of billions of dollars of government money was funneled inexorably and directly to AIG's counterparties," according to the inspector general. In fact, the terms of the plan were so flawed that the Treasury Department had to dole out an additional $40 billion to AIG just weeks later. For his part in the debacle, FRBNY chairman Geithner was rewarded with a Secretary of the Treasury role by President Obama.

These are the economic qualifications of President Obama and his Congressional sycophants who plan to nationalize one-sixth of the economy through socialized medicine. Come to think of it, those quals are even worse than the average Democrat president, though not by much.

...the federal government could provide jobs by ... providing jobs. It’s time for at least a small-scale version of the New Deal’s Works Progress Administration, one that would offer relatively low-paying (but much better than nothing) public-service employment. There would be accusations that the government was creating make-work jobs, but the W.P.A. left many solid achievements in its wake. And the key point is that direct public employment can create a lot of jobs at relatively low cost. In a proposal to be released today, the Economic Policy Institute, a progressive think tank, argues that spending $40 billion a year for three years on public-service employment would create a million jobs, which sounds about right.

...this would cost money, probably several hundred billion dollars, and raise the budget deficit in the short run. But this has to be weighed against the high cost of inaction in the face of a social and economic emergency...

"My prediction is that politicians will eventually be tempted to resolve the [fiscal] crisis the way irresponsible governments usually do: by printing money, both to pay current bills and to inflate away debt. And as that temptation becomes obvious, interest rates will soar."

...A year and a half later [Krugman] was comparing the U.S. deficit with Argentina's (at a time when it was 4.5 percent of GDP). Has the economic situation really changed so drastically that now the same Krugman believes it was "deficits that saved us," and wants to see an even larger deficit next year? Perhaps...

...But it might just be that the party in power has changed.

Krugman is a laughingstock, with or without a Nobel Prize. Come to think of it, he fits in perfectly with fellow prize winners Al Gore and Yassar Arafat.

Cornucopia

The problem is that most don't have a background in Geology. 100 years is less than a tiny flyspeck compared to the earths overall history. It's barely measurable. Warming and cooling cycles are at best measured in increments of at least 20,000 years. So the ice caps are melting. Big deal. At one point in the distant past there were no ice caps. The earth was experiencing a warming period. Then there was a prolonged cooling period, when the warm atmosphere caused an increase in water vapor due to rising ocean temperatures. The water vapor was transported by winds to a cooler place, the poles, where it was released in the form of snow. Many thousands of snow accumulation created glaciers. We are now in one of the 20,000 year warming cycles, causing the ice caps to melt. At some point in the distant future, another cooling cycle will occur and the process will start anew. In case you doubt the cycles involved, keep in mind that CO2's account for only 5% of what are called greenhouse gases. The other 95% is water vapor. So now you know. I'll forward you a link to the history of Yosemite National Park about 90 miles down the road from where I live. Judge for yourself the times involved in its creation. -- Anthony Rohl

Iran’s Government today announced plans to build ten new uranium enrichment plants and said work would start within two months.

Each site will be the size of the existing Natanz plant with the aim of producing between 250-300 tonnes of uranium a year.

IRNA, Iran’s state news agency, says the Government ordered the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran to begin construction of five uranium enrichment sites that have already been studied and propose five other sites for future construction.

Maybe if President Obama modified the cadence of his speech, used a more mellifluous tone, and offered more platitudes, perhaps then the Iranians would be receptive to his begging. For without a credible stick to accompany the many proffered carrots, begging is all that's left.

If you clicked on one of these direct message links, change your Twitter password immediately.

If you have not clicked on one yet, ignore them all.

Make sure your anti-virus, host intrusion prevention and/or other endpoint protection mechanisms are in place. If you surf using Internet Explorer, it's highly likely you are at risk. In that case, Download Firefox immediately and use it -- in all cases -- as a replacement for IE.

James Hansen, arguably the world's most famous climate scientist, is prone to shouting from the rooftops. The director of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York, Hansen has, in recent years, become better known for his climate activism than his scientific research. Last July, he said on his website that "the global climate is near tipping points" and that the consequences would "be irreversible — if we do not promptly slow fossil fuel emissions during the next few decades".

His conviction that a climate catastrophe is looming has led Hansen to increasingly take on the role of advocate, sending numerous pleading letters to world leaders and CEOs, and attending well-publicized protests against coal plants with the explicit aim of being arrested. It's also prompted him, at the age of 68, to write his first book. The title, Storms of My Grandchildren, refers to the ferocity of extreme weather events that will greet the next generation if the unmitigated use of fossil fuels continues.

But if someone can challenge Kloor for 'crappiest timing', Hansen may be that someone.

Hansen's new book, which -- surprise! -- promotes the dangers of warming, is due in December.

Its title -- Dreams from my Sauna -- was inspired by the famous incident in which Hansen was reportedly locked in a sauna for six hours. The after-effects of the episode left Hansen forever scarred, worried that his children and grandchildren would suffer a similar fate due to either climate change or a faulty door.

I just made up the prior paragraph. The actual title of Hansen's book is Storms of My Grandchildren, but -- given its timing -- the title won't matter: total sales in any case promise to be somewhere betwixt four and twelve given the revelation that CRU scientists completely gamed the system.

As a NASA employee, Hansen -- whose most recent nickname is "The Laughingstock" -- is, of course, on the public dole. He's one of many raving warmists who occupy positions of power in the current all-star lineup of Obama administration Marxists.

Greta Van Susteren revealed last night that Rush Limbaugh will be one of the judges of the 2010 Miss America Pageant. Pageant officials figured this was the only way to keep Barack Obama from winning that, too.

There is no need to check Snopes for the accuracy of this important report.

TMZ is reporting that Tiger Woods' facial injuries weren't related to his recent auto accident: they were inflicted by his wife who laid a smackdown on him.

We're told he said his wife had confronted him about reports that he was seeing another woman. The argument got heated and, according to our source, she scratched his face up.

We're told it was then Woods beat a hasty retreat for his SUV -- but according to our source, Woods says his wife followed behind with a golf club. As Tiger drove away, she struck the vehicle several times with the club.

Cornucopia

Last year, Mr. Obama made fiscal restraint a constant theme of his presidential campaign. "Washington will have to tighten its belt and put off spending," he said back then, while pledging to "go through the federal budget, line by line, ending programs that we don't need." Voters found this fiscal conservatism reassuring.

However, since taking office Mr. Obama pushed through a $787 billion stimulus, a $33 billion expansion of the child health program known as S-chip, a $410 billion omnibus appropriations spending bill, and an $80 billion car company bailout. He also pushed a $821 billion cap-and-trade bill through the House and is now urging Congress to pass a nearly $1 trillion health-care bill.

Earlier this year, John Schnatter -- the founder of Papa John's Pizza -- launched a national quest to find his long-lost '71 Chevy Camaro Z28. He had sold the car about 25 years ago to fund his first restaurant. Eventually, he located the car in Kentucky and shelled out more than $250,000 in finder's fees.

Schnatter went on to create a die-cast 1:64-scale replica of his car, which sell for $4.99 apiece. Each comes with a coupon for a free medium cheese pizza. And, best of all, $1 from each toy car purchased will be donated to a very worthy cause: the Marine Toys for Tots Foundation.

Above this paragraph, you'll see a "Click to Order" button. Go ahead and click... order a couple for Christmas, Hannukkah, Kwanzaa, Festivus -- whatever holiday you celebrate. The kids will love 'em and the cause is worthy indeed.

As for the economic security of millions of Americans -- who are victims of Democrat policy failures and Cloward-Piven government -- well, the President has plans.

He plans to convene a "jobs summit" -- which he figures will work about as well as the "Stimulus" bill, the Omnibus spending bonanza, the auto bailout and "Cash-for-Clunkers" -- because it promises to offer some excellent photo ops. No rush, though. It'll be held sometime in December.

The U.S. Mint has suspended sales of most American Eagle coins made from precious metals including gold and silver, citing depleted inventories of the metals after sales surged 88 percent in the first 10 months of this year... Sales of American Eagle gold coins jumped to 1.07 million ounces this year through October, from 568,000 a year earlier, according to the mint's Web site. This month, the mint indicated it sold an additional 124,000 ounces of the coins.

About 23.41 million ounces of silver coins were sold this year through October, and almost 2.59 million more were sold this month, the Web site shows... Last year, the mint sold about 15.38 million ounces of silver American Eagles through October.

Now that gold has touched an all-time high of $1,193 an ounce -- with banks among the buyers to protect themselves against the hemorrhaging dollar -- I can't help but think of the movie Goldfinger, with George Soros playing the role of Auric Goldfinger.

"All the talk about climate change, fraudulent science, the politicization of science, and so on has reminded me of one of my favorite stories of all time. I learned it from Tony Daniels (aka Theodore Dalrymple). In the Nazi period, 100 “Aryan” scientists signed a statement against Einstein — saying that the theory of relativity was a Jewish hoax or whatever. Asked to comment on this, Einstein said, “If what they are saying were true, one signature would have been enough.”

In science, as in other areas of life, beware the bandwagon. -- Jay Nordlinger

...Did you ever attempt to erase emails, documents or data related to a 'Freedom-of-Information-Act' request?

Would you believe we lost 'em?

Are you aware of an impending climate catastrophe?

No. But we estimate that there are perhaps 20,000 prehistoric humans frozen inside glaciers. Now, if they happen to thaw randomly, there's no problem. But if a leader emerges -- a caveman lawyer, perhaps -- we'll be facing a s***storm of pissed-off Neanderthals. With advanced technology. And no tort reform.

How the hell are we supposed to say it's warming when icebergs are forming in the Gulf of Mexico?

Don't worry... Al Gore will come up with an explanation. He's a Nobel-frickin'-Prize winner, dammit!

Cooling? Cooling? I want a recount!! It's gotta be warming!

Okay, okay! I admit I fudged the climate data! But Gore's gone nuts -- he's setting fire to every damn forest in North America! He's going to make sure the Earth is warming, even if it means mass arson! He's got billions at stake!!